Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Dominique Rey of Fréjus-Toulon, a move that follows years of Vatican scrutiny regarding his approach to clerical ordinations using pre-Vatican II liturgical books and other concerns. The resignation, which was announced on January 7, 2025, comes after a lengthy period of tensions between the bishop and the Vatican, particularly after the suspension of ordinations in the diocese in 2022.
Bishop François Touvet, who had been appointed coadjutor bishop of Fréjus-Toulon in November 2023, will now succeed Rey as the head of the diocese. The transition of leadership in the diocese was automatic, as the coadjutor bishop was named to take over in the event of Rey’s resignation.
In a statement released on January 7, Rey revealed that he had been informed by the nuncio, the pope’s ambassador in France, that Pope Francis had requested his resignation after initially encouraging him to remain in his position in December 2023. Rey expressed that he was unsure what had prompted the change in the pope’s stance. He said, “faced with misunderstandings, pressures, and polemics that are still harmful to the unity of the Church, the ultimate criterion of discernment for me remains that of obedience to the successor of Peter.”
Rey had served as the bishop of the Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon since 2000, and during his tenure, he had been a prominent supporter of the Traditional Latin Mass. His advocacy for the older form of the Mass had raised concerns within the Vatican, particularly after the promulgation of the 2021 motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, which imposed restrictions on the celebration of Mass in the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite.
In 2022, the Vatican suspended ordinations in the diocese after a visit by Archbishop Jean-Marc Aveline of Marseille, now a cardinal. The suspension was linked to questions raised by Roman dicasteries about the restructuring of the seminary and the policy for welcoming individuals into the diocese. Despite the suspension, Rey was able to ordain six men to the transitional diaconate in December 2024, an event that was seen as a positive step forward for the diocese. These ordinations, which occurred on December 1, 2024, in the Collegiate Church of Saint-Martin in Lorgues, were part of the Missionaries of Divine Mercy community.
The ordinations took place following what Bishop Touvet described as “a trusting and peaceful dialogue maintained with the superior of the community [of the Missionaries of Divine Mercy] and the Dicastery for Divine Worship [and the Discipline of the Sacraments].” Touvet, who had been tasked with overseeing the diocese’s economic, real estate, and seminarian-related matters, had previously been a part of the efforts to restore ordinations in the diocese.
Reflecting on his nearly quarter-century-long episcopacy, Rey expressed gratitude for the blessings and missionary fruits that had come from his leadership, stating, “just as I have always tried to respond to the calls for the new evangelization of St. John Paul II, then to the encouragements of Benedict XVI to welcome and form priestly vocations, and finally to the orientations of Francis, I have agreed, in this case, to hand over the pastoral charge that had been entrusted to me in 2000 by John Paul II.”
As part of his farewell to the diocese, Rey announced he would celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving on February 1, 2025, marking the end of his service as bishop of Fréjus-Toulon.
The Vatican’s decision to accept Bishop Rey’s resignation has drawn attention to the ongoing tensions within the Catholic Church regarding the Traditional Latin Mass and the balance between adherence to tradition and the priorities set by the Vatican’s current leadership under Pope Francis.
